PARIS: French farmers had gathered just 2% of this year's grain maize crop by Sept. 27 as a slow start to harvesting continued, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday.

Harvest progress had advanced from 1% a week earlier but was well behind the 31% seen a year earlier, according to FranceAgriMer's weekly cereal crop report.

The condition of maize remained favourable, with 89% of crops rated good or excellent like the previous week, its report showed.